Minecraft Forums

I must admit I was aware of Minecraft long before playing it.

Vaguely aware. I knew it was a game, and that it had a big grassroots fanbase. However, I was turned off by the primitive graphics. I looked at it and was like, "what is this, 1992?"

Well one fine afternoon I was bored and I figured I would splurge a few Microsoft points and give it a go.

Soon I was hooked.

As a lifelong video gamer (who was here and participating in the Atari 2600 days of the 80s), I have always maintained that great graphics are sizzle but not substance: tons upon tons of games have outstanding graphics but lousy gameplay and no depth. So I should have known better than to dismiss it on the graphics. Because this game has incredible substance under the hood.

So what would you say is the chief appeal to you?

To me, it's the limitless nature. As a creative person, I love to look at something I built, admiring it and feeling a bit of pride that I constructed it, and it looks good. That it looks cool. And best yet, that I can keep building on it.

And I love the open nature of it. You are not shoehorned into a quest. Your quest in Minecraft is ever changing: build a house. Get food. Hunt monsters. Explore. Whatever catches your fancy at the moment. Best yet, it's based on what you feel like doing at the moment.

And THAT is why this game made me an instant and lifelong fan.

It's a game that allows me to do different things... I don't feel like mining.. I build... Don't feel like building I hunt, don't feel like hunting, I farm... don't feel like farming.. well then it's time to figure out the mysteries of Redstone... There is so much to be done.... Learning Game mechanics is a big part of the fun of the game as well.. or learning how to use those to your advantage (i.e Mob Grinders, Minecart Elevators) For me the survival/creative aspects of the game have me hooked.

Just combine and ditto the first two posts and sum it up - I can do a lot of different things inside the game whenever I feel like doing something different. Because there is so much variety built into the game; it also is appealing to a broad spectrum of my family and friends (from the very young to the pretty darned old); which means everyone can get involved. It's the perfect game for families that like to play together!

Freedom. Literal and utter freedom. You can play the game how you want, in and environment you want and no one can tell you otherwise.

The fact that it only cost $20 for the game and I have gotten way more out of it than I have had any other games including the ones that cost $50-$60. That right there is very appealing to me. More for the $$$$.

Freedom.

It's relaxing.

Minecraft is just awesome.

The appeal of Minecraft (and all the other block games for that matter) is simply that instead of following a predetermined scrip or path it's all up to you. That's what ticks me off about adventure, puzzle, or parkour maps- they may be fun to make, but I refuse to be led around by the nose ("Now go here, do this, now go over here….")

The point about MC is… there is no point.
There is no goal…. you make up mini-goals for yourself as you go along.
You can't "win" the game, cause in a way, it's not a "game"- it's just a program that you mess with.
And to say that "there's no rules!" isn't quite correct. The wiki has over 2500 articles of "rules" and limitations that you play the game by (water only flows so far, sticks only come from planks, etc.)
Given that framework, it's up to you how to "live long and prosper". You're dumped in a world with nothing. What you do from there is up to you.
Minecraft is the same thing as someone giving you a pencil and a blank piece of paper- what you do from there is up to you.
Some people get that, and revel in the freedom and open endedness.
Some don't.

Quote from Geneo

That's what ticks me off about adventure, puzzle, or parkour maps- they may be fun to make, but I refuse to be led around by the nose ("Now go here, do this, now go over here….")

Tangent ahoy, captain!

This is why I hate the term CRPG. CRPGs are NOT roleplaying games. They are games that RESEMBLE some of the aspects of a roleplaying game, but they are not the same.

Simply because in a true roleplaying game, you can do ANYTHING you have a fancy to. And the person running the game needs to analyze what you just did, and adapt the story to your actions.

In a CRPG, you go to a king, he gives you a blah blah quest spiel, and then you say YES or NO.

In a true RPG, you could say Yes, No, Screw You, Hey Nice Weather We're Having... hell you could say Your Majesty, Your Princess Has Really Nice Jugs (and go up and honk them), which would tick him off and get your thrown in the dungeon, which is the turn the story would take.

In a "CRPG" your "choices" are ALL preconceived and mapped out.

Quote from Nose_Job_For_a_Cowboy

I take it you weren't into gaming in '92. If the Sega Genesis had games that looked like Minecraft, my fragile little child mind would have exploded.

Uh, yes I was. And computer gaming had far passed those graphics: Wolfenstein 3D was out at about this time.
I have played just about any system made, from Intellivision to Nintendo Wii.

Quote from Geneo

The appeal of Minecraft (and all the other block games for that matter) is simply that instead of following a predetermined scrip or path it's all up to you. That's what ticks me off about adventure, puzzle, or parkour maps- they may be fun to make, but I refuse to be led around by the nose ("Now go here, do this, now go over here….")

The point about MC is… there is no point.
There is no goal…. you make up mini-goals for yourself as you go along.
You can't "win" the game, cause in a way, it's not a "game"- it's just a program that you mess with.
And to say that "there's no rules!" isn't quite correct. The wiki has over 2500 articles of "rules" and limitations that you play the game by (water only flows so far, sticks only come from planks, etc.)
Given that framework, it's up to you how to "live long and prosper". You're dumped in a world with nothing. What you do from there is up to you.
Minecraft is the same thing as someone giving you a pencil and a blank piece of paper- what you do from there is up to you.
Some people get that, and revel in the freedom and open endedness.
Some don't.

Shouldn't that also include the freedom to be "led around by the nose" in an adventure map or puzzle map if that is what that person enjoys?

Quote from UpUp_Away95

Shouldn't that also include the freedom to be "led around by the nose" in an adventure map or puzzle map if that is what that person enjoys?

Way back in the stone ages of Windows 3.11, my sister and I used to love to play a really nice little adaption of the board game titled "Monopoly Deluxe." But you could set the AI to be dumb as a post. She'd only play at that setting. I asked her what was the point? You will always win, you will never lose when the AI is set to that level. I just didn't understand it. Just like people who play Civilization at Chieftan level -- you won't lose unless you make a concerted effort to.

But later I realized.... that's what she wanted out of her gaming experience. She didn't want to be challenged. She wanted the affirmation of winning all the time. The challenge I craved had no appeal to her, so it wasn't part of her gaming experience. Everyone has different requirements for what makes their games fun.

I like the fact it is never ending or at least it is to me . No goals ,No time limits. Minecraft has everything I want and nothing that I don't since i can choose what endevours to participate it when I want to and how I want to.

First and foremost is how open both the world and the game are. Minecraft worlds are almost endless, or at least to build over an entire one would take either a lot of people or a lot of time or both. Outside of a few problems the biomes make the worlds believable and give one the choice weather they want to settle in snow or a jungle or a desert or whatever else.

Second is how simple it is to customize a world. While vanilla Minecraft is ever expanding it's mostly to things that most people don't mind. What people do mind or wish to add into the game is what mods are for. There's one so that Endermen don't pick up blocks, one for backpacks so you can have more inventory space, even Mo' Creatures that does just what the name implies - adds more animals into the game. Anything a player could ever want is found either in vanilla or in the mods, which means each person can experience the game differently. Even texture and sound packs exist to change how the game looks and sounds, adding another level of customization to the game.

Third is the option to play with others. Servers are great, and there's at least one out there for just about everything imaginable. Weather you want to play Hunger Games and compete, start a Sky Block with other people or even just have a creative space to build and show off your skills there is a server out there that will cater. Mojang has been doing a great job of trying to list servers so people can find what they're looking for, which brings me to my fourth point.

Perhaps one of the biggest appeals to the game for me is the Mojang team themselves. Each and every one of them has striven to make the game better, even after the 1.0 release. Despite the fact that we pay a one time fee to play the game forever, they're still working on the game to make it the best it can be for everyone who plays it. I've had Minecraft for about a year and a half now, and I am constantly surprised at the things Mojang does for us players even when some just and moan about new updates because they don't like some aspect of it.

All in all this game is amazing because I can do what I want when I want, I can show off or keep things to myself. I can play with others or by myself. It's unique, and caters to each user as best it can and that is why try as I might I find that I can never quite quit playing Minecraft for very long

Quote from Evilwillhunting

Way back in the stone ages of Windows 3.11, my sister and I used to love to play a really nice little adaption of the board game titled "Monopoly Deluxe." But you could set the AI to be dumb as a post. She'd only play at that setting. I asked her what was the point? You will always win, you will never lose when the AI is set to that level. I just didn't understand it. Just like people who play Civilization at Chieftan level -- you won't lose unless you make a concerted effort to.

But later I realized.... that's what she wanted out of her gaming experience. She didn't want to be challenged. She wanted the affirmation of winning all the time. The challenge I craved had no appeal to her, so it wasn't part of her gaming experience. Everyone has different requirements for what makes their games fun.

I agree completely. That is why, I believe I would never get "ticked off" about the mere existence of adventure maps, etc. If I don't want to play them, I don't have to. If I do, I can. The option is there, the variety is there... and that is what appeals to me most about Minecraft. It accommodates "different strokes for different folks"... and does it rather well, I think.

Quote from Evilwillhunting

Way back in the stone ages of Windows 3.11, my sister and I used to love to play a really nice little adaption of the board game titled "Monopoly Deluxe." But you could set the AI to be dumb as a post. She'd only play at that setting. I asked her what was the point? You will always win, you will never lose when the AI is set to that level. I just didn't understand it. Just like people who play Civilization at Chieftan level -- you won't lose unless you make a concerted effort to.

But later I realized.... that's what she wanted out of her gaming experience. She didn't want to be challenged. She wanted the affirmation of winning all the time. The challenge I craved had no appeal to her, so it wasn't part of her gaming experience. Everyone has different requirements for what makes their games fun.

Windows 3.11 was a big advancement in my computing experience... I started work writing reports on a manual typewriter, eventually getting promoted to a "memory" typewriter that had a single-line of display and saved each page of each document on, probably, about 3 or 4 floppy cards each. When a full screen display came in... green type on a black background... wow! Do you remember Pong? Also, as I recall, the first "PC" my company bought for us was about $20,000.

Yep, I actually played "Hunt the Wumpus."

It's simplicity

The freedom, the simplicity, and the ability to create anything you can think of. That's what appealed to me.

Its an OK game, I find myself turning the game on to play and I turn it off shortly after. You have to br the type to want to sit in front of the screen for a few hours to get a real sense of accomplishment, not that here isn't a point to the game, I get what the game is trying to do letting everyone have different goals and a different experience which is fine. But its the same thing with any MMO, to feel like you've done something, you have to log the hours in, and maybe if I was a bit younger, and was able to find the fun in spending a few hours in front of my TV without feeling like a sack of ­ by the end, I'd find this game a lot better.
I like the idea that you can build what you want and do what you want, that is the most appealing thing to me,.n but as i said, i just cant get into it. I find myself getting bored with what im doing really quick, i move onto something else im still bored, its just not for everyone. But it also seems as the gaming community, reviewers, and other outlets seem to be stuff indie games down my throat, and telling me i have to like this certain type of game. But i do like it, and i really want to think this game is ground breaking, but, to me i find it hard finding the true appeal of this game just like every other game that has come out in recent years, indie or not. Its not as good to me as a lot of other people . But jist because i dobt oike it does t mean anything.